AFTER a year in charge of Scottish Labour, Johann Lamont has shown herself to be happy with the Tories in London to control taxes in Scotland.

THIS week marks Johann Lamont’s first birthday as Labour leader in Scotland.

I welcome any woman doing well in public life – especially when they have to bring up a family at the same time.

But I profoundly disagree with the direction in which Lamont has taken her party.

The Tories congratulated her for mimicking their policies after she made a speech saying Scotland was a “something for nothing society”.

Abolishing basic benefits, such as the council tax freeze and free prescriptions, is a threat to hard-working families.

Instead of expecting ordinary people to stump up, Lamont at the very least should campaign for the Scottish parliament to have full powers over tax and welfare. That way we could make sure the rich paid the right taxes and the poor were looked after.

But Lamont prefers the Tories in London to control these things. So she has set up a Cuts Commission to decide how to divide the shrinking cake Scotland receives by way of a grant from Westminster.

The commission won’t report until after the referendum in 2014.

People need to understand that voting No in the referendum might also mean pensioners voting to pay for their bus passes and personal care when they become infirm.

A No vote could also mean fees for students.

Lamont has already spoken out against the SNP’s policy of not charging university students for their education. This is a U-turn for Labour, who campaigned for free tuition in the Scottish election.

Maybe Lamont should make a public apology to students a la Nick Clegg.

The gunman is described as disturbed by those who knew him – a brainiac who was subject to outbursts.

Whether he had Asperger’s syndrome, as has been claimed, should not be taken at face value. Most young people with Asperger’s, a form of autism, are never violent.

But whatever was wrong with Lanza, it was not the cause of this terrible crime.

Easy access to guns allowed him to take innocent lives.

Without firearms he may have remained just another social misfit, fantasising in his bedroom or on the internet.

After Dunblane, we tightened up our gun laws. Many would like to see them tightened further. President Obama has urged meaningful steps to ensure these school massacres stop once and for all. That can only happen when America gets real about guns.

COMMUNITY spirit is Christmas spirit.

I was at a great carol service in Dumfries last week, organised by the Locharbriggs Community Centre.

The singing was led by the centre’s chairman John Caskie, who was in fine voice, despite being flattened by a bug just a few hours before. Other volunteers had spent hours wrapping presents for the tombola or gathering donations for the raffle.

These are scenes repeated around Scotland. All over the country men pull on their Santa suits. Women pack hampers and bake cakes for good causes. We are told the malls are quiet because of the recession, but cash tills don’t ring out the tidings of joy. That’s found in people’s hearts.

Wonder of Wyllies

FEW artists ever touched such a canvas of people as George Wyllie. His Straw Locomotive, Paper Boat, Running Clock and Monument to Maternity make us smile and think at once.

It was fitting that he won the Creative Scotland Award for Visual Art at a glittering evening in Kelvingrove last week

George died in May, so it was a bitter sweet moment for his daughter Louise, when she collected the award along with ‘Team Wyllie’.

Her dad passed away during a year-long festival, The Whysman, celebrating his life and work. Thanks to his family and friends, the festival has been an incredible success.

There is a major retrospective of his work at the Mitchell Library until February 3. The sculptor Alec Galloway and shipyard workers re-created George’s giant question marks on the shoreline at Langbank.

The George Wyllie Schools Project, funded by the Scottish Government, allows hundreds of pupils in Clydeside towns to explore his influences. The kids’ paper boats will be launched on Hogmanay, what would have been George’s 91st birthday.

Recently Published

WE confronted the Finance Secretary about the secret dossier which critics say has shattered the SNP’s case for independence with plans to cut pensions and welfare, and a flustered Swinney then rushed straight to Edinburgh to see the First Minister come under pressure in Holyrood.